Sweet Like Deadly Nightshade

Fun fact: When I was growing up, my father had major aspirations of my brother and I becoming child models. Every so often he would put up a white bedsheet on one of the walls in the living room, get some props and outfits together and we’d have our own photoshoot sessions right at home. I still have the albums full of the photos including the professional ones that he had done to send to modeling agencies. Neither my brother or I ever got a modeling contract as kids (Not for lack of trying, I mean we were adorable but I guess that wasn’t enough, hahaha) but at the very least we have the memories.

At the start of quarantine last year, my brother was actually the first one to point out that I could not use the pandemic as an excuse for not continuing to take photos and create content. According to him, I’ve been “trained for in-house photoshoots” and now I even have more space to work with than we did growing up. I initially disagreed because working in one space can be pretty limiting, but in time I took up the challenge, working around issues with lightening (my apartment is intentionally dark in certain spaces) and even did some much needed furniture/decor shopping which I had put off for the last 2 years.

I’ve done quite a bit of shooting at home as a result, some of which I haven’t shared yet, but I wanted to try my hand at something “different” for this new year. So armed with my trusty tripod, selfie light, new make up, new bedding and a lux velvet set I bought as a Christmas gift to myself, I figured it was time to try something way, way outside of my comfort zone – my own boudoir shoot. Continue reading

Silver and Gold Christmas in the City

As you can tell I love holidays, Halloween and Christmas especially, and I consider myself lucky that I’m able to celebrate in NYC as we tend to go hard here for both. The lights, the decor, the holiday themed food – it all is truly amazing this time of year in NYC.In the past I would spend most of my evenings after work walking around, taking in the holiday sights while doing some my Christmas shopping in stores and in person. This year has been much different, with my holiday prep taking on the form of strictly online shopping as well as cleaning and decorating my apartment. This wasn’t at all as boring as I originally expected as I’ve even managed to do bring in more decor than I ever have which has definitely helped me get out of a depressive stupor.  Continue reading

A Blue Christmas

Its no secret that I love this time of year. The weather, the lights, the food, and now the parties. I love it all and it tends to make me smile for no reason other than it is Christmastime. Yet this year marks the first time that I’ve been unmotivated to take part in many, if any, festivities. Even gift shopping has felt more like a chore than a joy. I believe that part of this is linked to my depression and anxiety, however with the end of the year fast approaching, I have taken time to do some major introspection that has only worked to further dampen my mood.

I’m an overachiever and a workaholic so its not really surprising that I am disappointed by how short my personal list of supposed accomplishments for this year seems to be.  My negative feelings were felt among my coworkers and friends who made a point to check on me abd cheer me up the best they could. Then came the news of our office holiday party and that caused a buzz as everyone went about prepping for it. I’m an empath so I found myself becoming just as excited as those around me.  Continue reading

Velvet Joy

After a month full of nonstop work and holiday events I saved my favorite holiday look for Christmas Eve. I spent the day at church with the family which was followed by a late lunch by the East River before heading into Dyker Heights in Brooklyn to take in some of the gorgeous Christmas light displays.  It was a full day, but it was amazing because I got to spend it with my family. What made it even better was this Eloquii dress I purchased as a gift to myself.  This dress was everything that I could want for a holiday look — elegant, feminine and festive. 20161224_164529-4 Continue reading